Stunning Hypocrisy

Stunning, breathtaking hypocrisy. Those are the words that come to mind as Tom McClintock once again expresses his full support for Donald Trump’s power-grab.

During the Obama administration, McClintock railed often against presidential action he considered to be overreaching — accusing President Obama of “seizing” powers reserved to the Congress and scaremongering with baseless warnings of a shift “toward leftist authoritarianism.” He pretended to be a constitutional purist, falsely claiming that his concern was with protecting the forefathers’ intent. But now we know the truth. It’s always been about power for Tom McClintock, and advancing his party’s goals by any means possible. Now that we have a president that truly wants to be a dictator — praising Putin, Kim Jong Un and Duterte, and attacking our democratic allies — McClintock is fully on board. He has been one of the most stalwart supporters of the most authoritarian president this country has seen in decades. This blind support has perhaps never been more clear than in McClintock’s decision to praise Trump’s usurpation of Congress’ spending power. The Constitution is clear. If Congress doesn’t allocate funds for a project, the President doesn’t have the right to spend the money anyway. Trump’s decision to declare a fake national emergency to steal money from other projects in order to build a useless wall — a vanity project for a vain President — should be condemned by all. But sycophants like Tom McClintock have shown us that they will stand by this President, even as he stomps on the Constitution and the rule of law in this country.

In November 2020, we’ll have another chance to send Tom McClintock back to his own District, and elect someone who will stand by the values they proclaim. McClintock continues to sell us out, one vote at a time. This is one of the many reasons we oppose Tom McClintock. California’s Fourth District, and this country, deserve better.